New Waterford brothers hire attorneys for court fight

November 28, 2012

LISBON - Two New Waterford brothers accused of assault, arson and criminal damaging at a home in the Pleasant Valley trailer court in November appeared in Columbiana County Municipal Court Tuesday.

Tyler Conkle, 22, and Alex Conkle, 18, both of Macklin Road were represented by separate attorneys before Judge Mark Frost.

Douglas King, hired to represent Tyler Conkle, told Frost he had just been retained and needed more time to look over the police records and other evidence against his client.

Alex Conkle, who also faces unrelated charges of drug paraphernalia and prohibitions, is represented by Jennifer Gorby. The drug paraphernalia charge reportedly stems from marijuana pipes, rolling papers and empty K-spice containers in his vehicle, while the prohibitions charge is for two unopened beers.

Gorby and King were given a chance to view documents on Tuesday, but were still granted the requested continuance. The pretrial for both brothers is now set for Jan. 31.

Frost said for now the charges against them can be looked at together, but eventually the charges could lead to up to five separate jury trials.

The Conkles are accused of throwing a flare from a vehicle toward the Shear Perfection Hair Salon building, which caught the leaves near the building on fire. The leaves were later extinguished.

Additionally, they are accused of shooting a BB gun toward the mobile home of Eric Elliott, narrowly missing Elliott's head with one shot. When he went outside to confront them, the brothers reportedly continued to shoot, eventually shattering a window in the bedroom where Eliott's 2-year-old daughter was in bed.

Finally, the pair are accused of being responsible for two soda bottle bombs thrown at Elliott's home.

Both the mother of the Conkle brothers and Elliott attended Tuesday's court hearing.